Crime in Hawaii 2004 (Annual)

Crime in Hawaii down 8.5% in 2004, fell almost one-third during past 10 years

December 29, 2005 – The Department of the Attorney General released its annual Uniform Crime Report, Crime in Hawaii, which shows that the State’s Index Crime rate decreased considerably in 2004, down 8.5% from the rate reported for 2003.

A total of 63,665 Index Crimes were reported statewide in 2004, yielding a rate of 5,041.4 offenses per 100,000 resident population. The reported violent Index Crime rate in Hawaii decreased 4.1% in 2004, and the reported property Index Crime rate decreased 8.7%. Hawaii’s total and property Index Crime rates in 2004 were, respectively, 30.4% and 31.1% below the rates reported a decade earlier (1995). The violent Index Crime rate fell 12.8% over the course of the decade.

Other highlights of Crime in Hawaii, 2004 include the following:

The rate of reported offenses for the violent Index Crimes of forcible rape and robbery respectively decreased 2.0%, and 17.9% in Hawaii in 2004, while murder and aggravated assault rate rose 49.4% and 3.6%, respectively. There were 3,274 violent Index Crimes reported in Hawaii in 2004, representing a rate of 259.3 offenses per 100,000 residents.

Based on the proportion of arrests (plus cases closed by “exceptional means”) to reported offenses, the total clearance rate for reported Index Crimes remained at 11.5% in 2004, its second lowest level on record.

Adult arrests comprised 70.7% of all Index Crime arrests in 2004; juvenile arrests accounted for 29.3%. Crime in Hawaii, 2004 also provides state and county data on the gender and race/ethnicity of arrestees.

Index Crime arrest data provide the most consistent measure of the nature and extent of serious juvenile crime in Hawaii. Statewide juvenile Index Crime arrests remained at a historically very low level in 2004, with 2,159 arrests reported statewide, up slightly from the 2,113 arrests reported in 2003 and ending a 6-year streak of consecutively broken annual record low tallies. Juvenile Index Crime arrests ranged from 4,000 to 7,000 annually during the 1975-1997 period and thereafter plummeted in each subsequent year until 2004. The 2004 figure marks a 46.9% decrease over the previous 10-year period.

The City & County of Honolulu’s Index Crime rate decreased 8.5% in 2004, with the violent crime rate falling 3.9% and the property crime rate down 8.8%.

Hawaii County’s Index Crime rate decreased 14.3% in 2004. The violent crime rate decreased 3.4% and the property crime fell 14.8%. Hawaii County’s total Index, violent, and property crime rates in 2004 were the lowest in the State of Hawaii.

The Index Crime rate in Maui County decreased 1.3% in 2004, with the violent crime rate falling 14.0% and the property crime rate down 0.8%. Maui County’s total Index and property crime rates in 2004 were the highest in the State of Hawaii.

The Index Crime rate in Kauai County decreased 11.9% in 2004, with the violent crime rate up 9.8% and the property crime rate down 13.3%. Kauai County’s violent crime rate in 2004 was the highest in the State of Hawaii.

Thirty-three murders were reported statewide in 2004, up from a record low of 22 reported in 2003. Females comprised 24.2% of the murder victims and 14.8% of the alleged offenders in 2004. The breakdown for the relationship between victims and offenders in 2004 includes: acquaintance, 36.4% (12); stranger, 27.3% (9); unknown relationship, 18.2% (6); immediate family, 12.1% (4); and girlfriend/boyfriend, 6.1% (2).

Of the 2,913 murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults reported statewide during 2004, 41.8% were committed using strongarm weapons (i.e., hands, fists, and feet), 28.1% with “other” or unknown weapons, 19.5% with edged weapons, and 10.5% with firearms.

Over $65 million in property value was reported stolen in Hawaii during 2004, up 9.2% from the figure reported for 2003. Of the total value stolen in 2004, 17.3% was recovered, down slightly from 17.5% recovered in 2003.

In 2004, 356 assaults on Hawaii’s police officers were recorded (a rate of 13.1 assaults per 100 officers). Crime in Hawaii, 2004 also provides data on the time of day, type of assignment, and the weapons used in assaults against police officers.

On October 31, 2004, a total of 2,712 police officers and 715 civilians were employed by the four county police departments, denoting a 3.7% decrease in officers and a 5.5% decrease in civilians from the figures reported for October 31, 2003.